Chuck Berry won't sing for 'Johnny' in election & other: August 2008

Saturday, 23 August 2008

Swapping Sinners for Saints

Local soul diva Jordan Valentine has gone from singing with Sinners to singing with Saints.

With the World�s Greatest Sinners on permanent hiatus, Jordan Valentine & the Sunday Saints wee their debut Saturday nighttime with iI sets of throwback individual at the Plough & Stars in Cambridge.

Valentine describes the new troupe as reawakening the sounds of New Orleans �60s r & b as well as Southern soul and Delta grooves. Given Valentine�s previous four-spot years with the Sinners, the new name aptly plays on the old adage �a sinner all week and a Saint on Sunday.�

Former Sinners Andrew Malone on keyboards and Dennis McCarthy on drums carry on with Valentine in the new dance band featuring deuce saxophones, trumpet, guitar and bass.

It could be a while before the World�s Greatest Sinners hit the stage again.

�There won�t be a �last show� or anything lightheaded like that,� Valentine wrote Wednesday in an e-mail blast. �But I�m sure mortal will credibly convince us to do some kind of reunion thing turn about 2030, at which point hopefully some of you will be in that respect to push me extinct on to the stage at the Cantab in my giant rolling pot a la Brother Solomon Burke.�

Catch a preview of Jordan Valentine & the Sunday Saints at myspace.com/sundaysaints. The show at the Plough kicks off at well-nigh 10 p.m. Cover charge: $5.

The Cure�s lucky 13

The Cure has announced the tone ending date for its upcoming album. Since Halloween this year waterfall on a Friday and CDs ar released on Tuesdays, Robert Smith went with an alternative skittish date: Oct. 13.

The as-yet-untitled record testament be the band�s thirteenth studio record album in its dark-tinted vocation. Singles from the record have already been released on the 13th day of the previous month. Beating nursing home the full stop, a new Cure EP titled �Hypnagogic States� drops Sept. 13.

Don�t expect the new full-length to remain nameless, however, as the Cure went the eponymic route with their self-titled 2004 album, a largely forgettable cause with the shoddy wrap up sporting zilch more than a child�s drawing on notebook paper.

We�ve got concerts

Tickets to the following concerts go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster (617-931-2000) and Live Nation (live nation.com):

The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers, Nov. 9 at the Orpheum. Tickets: $25-$27.50.

Kings of Leon, with We Are Scientists, Nov. 12 at the Orpheum. Tickets: $36.

More information

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Katie Melua To Revisit Georgia

Katie Melua has revealed that she plans to fly to Georgia in two weeks, despite the current conflict between her home country and Russia.

Melua was born in Western Georgia, only left xV years agone to move to Ireland.

"We left wing when civil war started," says the 23-year-old isaac M. Singer, "then we moved to Belfast during the Troubles, so I've lived in war-torn countries for much of my life and don't need to be kept away from my own country."

"While the governments fight over a piece of edwin Herbert Land, it is the people who suffer." Melua added.

More info

Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Wilbur Theatre gets its acts together

More than two months after announcing its transformation into a music locale and new home of the Comedy Connection, the Wilbur Theatre appeared ready to opened for business last nox, if merely temporarily.

After Tuesday night�s scheduled show by UK bug out princess Duffy and Wednesday night�s with Gnarls Barkley, the historic 94-year-old Tremont Street theatre will close down again in gild to make out handicap-access renovations.

The city granted the Wilbur�s new lessee, Comedy Connection kingpin Bill Blumenreich, a temporary trachinotus falcatus for the Duffy and Gnarls Barkley shows later on he was forced to relocate concerts by Missy Higgins and Spiritualized as well as a comedy show by �The Soup� host Joel McHale to the Roxy nightclub on the early side of Tremont Street.

�The Architectural Access Board wanted some changes made,� Blumenreich aforesaid Tuesday. �So we�ll do some construction.

�I wasn�t well-chosen about it, but I�ll give them everything they want and I won�t have to deal with it anymore,� he said.

Blumenreich took control of the Wilbur after signing a 20-year lease on the construction in June. Mayor�s office staff spokeswoman Dot Joyce aforesaid all businesses must reapply for amusement licenses when it changes hands.

�We�re scarce waiting for (the Wilbur) to get their permits set ahead the license is tending out, which is standard practice,� Joyce said.

Blumenreich expects the 1,200-capacity Wilbur to reopen by the end of this month or early September. He plans to fill the theater with live music on weekdays and top comedians such as Sarah Silverman on weekends.

�You name a big-time comedy act, ennead out of 10 they�ll be in that respect,� he added. �You�ll see stuff in the next few weeks. It�s really going to be an exciting place.�

The Wilbur has been eyed for rock and pop concerts as Boston awaits the completion of the House of Blues on Lansdowne Street as well as a decisiveness from City Hall regarding capacity limitations at the Roxy. Live Nation already has a busy season planned for the historic theater with shows booked so far including Gavin DeGraw (Sept. 4), Xavier Rudd (Sept. 11), Stars (Sept. 16), Mogwai (Sept. 22), Grace Potter (Sept. 25), Against Me! (Oct. 12), TV on the Radio (Oct. 13), Jonatha Brooke (Oct. 16) and Broken Social Scene (Oct. 26).